I think the majority of us, for whatever reason have that 'weaker' lift out of the three. For me it's my squat (after years of my bench being the weakest). It can further become exaggerated as many lifters tend to spend more time on the lift that they're stronger at, rather than focusing on their weaker lift; with this misaligned approach it's easy to see how the lifts can soon start to become noticeably disproportionate.

Your squats are really solid ~ are you doing them ATG? What's your bodyweight at right now just out of interest?

Squats and Deadlifts are the two that I've had the least trouble with since I started strength lifting a year and a half ago. I've always had pretty big legs and glutes, so I'm sure that's helped me squat pretty well. I go ATG on all my warmups, but the final work weight is only done below parallel. I think my abs are a bit on the weaker side, so I tend to fold a bit at the waist when going down with a heavy bar. I've also always been good with overhead lifts. I haven't purposely focused on any one lift in particular. I've consistently followed the programs and done all the lifts equally, with the one exception being the emphasis on squats in the Stronglifts 5x5 program (squats are done every workout).

Dissapointed with my 8x120, wanted 9 reps. Felt good on pullups so threw in another set. I can easily hit 5 reps on neutral and supinated close grip, but 5 reps at wide pronated grip are still a bit tough. Also disappointed on the dips, thought I had it in but gassed at the end.

Should have gone for rep 10 on the deadlift set - I could have pulled it but decided to stop at 9. I was close to gassing out. GHR is going well, I can definitely up it to 8 reps each set next time. Leg raise got really hard towards the end, my legs weren't coming up as high for the last few reps of the last set. It might have just been that I was worn out at that point.

Good DL's, I like to throw in some high rep sets every now and then. Most I managed with 315 was 15 reps, that was a challenge I set myself a while ago.

Nearly collapsed straight after that! Definately feel that higher rep sets with heavy weight help with your overall strength as well, seems to bring strength up faster than if you were to train solely with lower rep schemes. Just my 2c.

Good session though, nice work !! What's up next for you, recovery day?

Yeah, I'm on the 3/week schedule, so M-W-F. I could probably pull a few more reps but my conditioning is shit so I gas out a lot sooner than I'd like. I'd like to start running 2x week or so, but so far I haven't been able to motivate myself to do it. Maybe I can tack it on to the end of my press and bench workouts. That would only be 3/2weeks, but at least it's a start.

Was feeling saucy around rep 8, knew I'd get 9. Was still feeling saucy so went for 10 but could only get it half way up. It was harder to finish the rows on the left side than on the right, probably due to straining on the bench fail. Pullups are always a chore at the end of bench days.

Even with all that jump roping you still feel like you gas out quick? Jump rope is great cardio. I'd take it over running any day. But I hate running. Haha. Your log here is very impressive and professionally done, the graphs are great.

Thanks Rob. The jump rope is really just a warmup. I take about a minute between jump rope sets including the x2 pullups and it keep my HR up a bit, but by the time I get to my second set of the main lift I don't feel like the HR is still elevated. It's only been a month of jump roping as warmups and I haven't noticed any change in my stamina yet. There's a couple decent staircases outside of my gym that I might try running after non-leg workouts, we'll see how that goes whenever I get around to it.

5/3/1 Cycle 2 Set 1

today:

5x100 Jump rope alternated with 5x2 pullups

Squat5x95 lbs5x1455x1955x22510x255

Lunges: 5x12Ab wheel: 4x7, 1x10

Great squat workout today. Final set was below parallel, but not ATG. All warmups were done ATG. I was feeling good so I went for the 10th rep and got it. Based on my other lifts this cycle I was only expecting 9 reps. Going by Wendler's 1RM formula that puts me at 340 max squat, which I'm happy with. 3 months ago I hit 5x325.

Stepped up the reps on the assistance from the last squat day, and I'm feeling it now. I was a bit worn after squats, but lunges sealed the deal. Add a bit of core work and I'm well and spent. Next squat day I'll go to x13 lunges and then x14 the following. On the last ab wheel set I wanted to judge myself so I could better plan for next week so I threw a few extra on the end. I will definitely do sets of x8 next time.

Today was a great workout day. Felt good going in, felt the strength on press and went for that 7th rep, grinding it out with a bit of back arch. I noticed that my left side was lagging behind a little on that last press rep, probably a little weaker on that side. I had originally planned on 7x5 for the pullups, but after knocking out the press I decided on 5x6 instead and banged that out. The last rep on the last two sets was tough and slow, but I got it with good form. Dips were a grinder. I knew they would be as my shoulders were pretty worn from the press and pullups, but went for them anyway. I had to rest at the top towards the end of the last two sets so that I could complete them at 9 reps. I did 5 reps, then rested a the top for a few breaths, did 2 more, rested again, then did the last two.

After stretching I went outside to look for some decent stairs to run for some conditioning and found a set of 28 steps out in front of my gym. Since this is the first time I've run steps, I just went for it, not knowing how I'd handle it. Coming down after the fifth time up I realized that I'd need to rest if I wanted to do any more at a decent intensity, so I decided to rest for 2 minutes and then try another set of 5. After that set of 5 my quads felt weak and I was breathing really heavy, so I rested a little longer. Each time my rest increased by about 15-20 seconds. I called it done at 20 reps, since I'm not sure how I'm going to recover from this. If my recovery is decent I will probably add another set next time (on the next bench press workout).

I'm pretty damn beat now, but I like the feeling. I've felt worn from tough lifting sessions over the past 1.5 years, but I've missed the worn-out feeling one gets from intense cardio sessions (I used to to a lot more cardio years back). I like the feeling of having put my whole body through the ringer.

On a food note, for the last two weeks I've been cutting out some of the beans that I normally eat as a large portion of my 3 lunch meals. I've been replacing the beans with half a block of high-protein tofu or 3/4 of a block of 4-grain tempeh each day. I've done this to increase my daily protein intake as well as to reduce the amount of indigestible carbs I eat (beans have a lot of those!). I tend to be really gassy at night and my wife puts up with it but isn't really thrilled. So far my favorite is tempeh soaked overnight in teriyaki marinade.

Last edited by asparagus on Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good lifts today. After rep 5 on the deadlift the bar bounced around so I had to reset for the last 2 reps. Octagonal plates piss me off. Otherwise I'm happy with the 7 reps. I had a little left in the tank, but didn't think it was enough for another full rep. GHR felt really easy on the first two sets so I increased the reps for the remainder. I may have been doing them a little too fast so the momentum from the back raise portion probably carried over into the hamstring curl. I slowed them down a bit on the last two sets and they were a little harder, but was still no trouble to get 10 reps.